Ancient Anglican

The more effective method of combating our restless thoughts is to redirect our thoughts away from their object and towards Jesus through the repetition of a short Jesus-focused prayer. 

As we slow down to hear our breathing and become aware of God’s presence, we begin to be attentive and see and hear God all around us. As Jesus says “blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears for they hear.” Matt 13:16.

The cultivation of God’s peace and God’s love within us begins with us intentionally seeking an inner stillness that opens us to contemplative prayer and through contemplation to be transformed and through transformation to be able to go out to others. 

We have the example of Elijah who looked for God in the activity of the whirlwind, the power of the earthquake, and the excitement of the fire; but who only heard God in that still, small voice of sheer silence. 1 Kings 19:12.

To become this healing presence for others we must first be continuously healed and renewed ourselves through an active relationship with Jesus because we cannot pass on that which we do not possess.

In this last Song, the Servant suffers silently and vicariously on behalf of others. He bears their griefs and sorrows, their transgressions and iniquities.  And, in this Song, the Servant’s death is spoken of.  But it is within this suffering and death, that the nations see and come to understand God.

After the final Suffering Servant Song, Isaiah gives us a foretaste of Easter morning with a beautiful Song of Peace and Assurance and a Song of Joy and Triumph.

The parallels between the experience of the Servant and Jesus’s Passion are unmistakable. 

It is the image that now the time has come to be delivered. Now is the time that God has chosen to intervene in history to bring salvation to his people. This is the same understanding we have when Jesus enters Jerusalem on the colt.

We see in Jesus the fulfillment of this Servant Song. But ultimately, the Servant’s mission is achieved in us, the Church.

The exile and the estrangement are caused by sin, and yet God pronounces that He blots our transgressions, and no longer remembers our sins.

For the Gospel writers, this description of the Servant proclaims Jesus. For it is Jesus who ultimately fulfills the prophet’s words.